From where I stand…

Tag Archives: twist

“That which I cannot hold is that which I can treasure the most because it affords me no burden other than to enjoy it.” ― Craig D. Lounsbrough

As those who follow my blog regularly will know, I’m fascinated with the many shapes and forms I find in the natural world. To many casual passers-by, these small details are largely ignored. Yet I am drawn deeper into them. Now, having a good macro lens enable me to look deeper, to observe details that my eye misses on initial inspection. It’s a real joy to literally savour these details, to try to understand some of the reasons behind the shapes.

The image above is one of the tendrils of a Fox Grape, also know as wild grape around here. The purpose of the tendrils is to support the grape-vine by wrapping around other plants nearby. If it can’t find anything to cling to, it wraps into a tight cluster, like above.

I wondered if this tendril had wrapped around some fine structure which has since decayed or fallen away, but it was quite high up (eye level), so that’s unlikely.

“And just because you turn out differently than everyone’s imagined you would doesn’t mean that you’ve failed in some way. A person who goes to med school because his entire family is full of doctors might find out that what he really wants to be is an artist instead.” ― Jodi Picoult

Here’s another image from yesterday’s hike. I’m always impressed at how some plants hang on to their leaves when neighbouring plants, of the same species, have dropped theirs. They are somehow marvelously different, unexpected. Despite rains, heavy winds, and snowfall, this small maple hung onto a singular leaf. It almost appears as if the snow is trying to push the leaf off. yet it endures, at least long enough to fall into my sight. On even the dullest day, I come across these ‘exceptions’ and they brighten my day, because they are unexpected.

The twisty vine in this image is from an invasive species called Dog Strangling Vine, which grows in abundance here and is, despite being invasive, a delicate and interesting plant to photograph. I wrote about it earlier this year.

The combination of the leaf and the vine lead to the image title, yet another image of orange and white, much like yesterday’s post and a few prior to that. At some point, even the bright orange will fade into memory, the way yellow did a month ago.